Life at the Batcave

So... I didn't blog for a while. Normally I'd be all about playing catch up. but there's a ton of stuff on FB, so I'm going to leave it at that.

Rutherford's gone, though. He went missing at the beginning of the summer. I think I miss him more than Gwen does. She's been asking for a new lion, and I may have to cave in and get one.

So. Summer here has been cool. Almost cold. We'vemanaged to keep busy, even though we really haven't gone anywhere. Mondays I've been going to water aerobics with Julie while Gwen hangs with Karin, Tuesdays have been the library until this month. I think we're hitting thebeach tomorrow. Wednesdays, we do our walk in Henry Cowell, Thursdays Gwen has swim lessons in Ben Lomond with Ryan and James, and Fridays are a bit free form. We haven't beent o the creek nearly as much, but we've gone a few times. We'll probably go more now that's it's getting hot.

Gwen is gorgeous and a real handful. Having a hell of a time getting her to bed right now. She's pulling out all the stops, whcih means once more we are letting her cry it out. She's bright and she's funny and stubborn as all get out. However, she is potty trained, hallelujah huzzah! She seems to be coming out of the mermaid/Ariel stage (although she did a serious Uturn tonight) in favor of all superheros, all the time. This weekend, she was Batwoman, Jim was Batman, I was Batgirl, and Julie was Batbaby. Jim was married to both of us, mostly because Gwen did not want any responsibility for Batbaby.

She's been a big fan of Batman for a long time, but she had told Mom that she wanted a WonderWoman costum for Halloween. Then on Thursday, after a truly awful day that I have to admit had more to do with my poor behavior than hers, we ended up at the consignment shop, where she promptly peed all over their carpetted play area. Yikes. So I had to buy something, and what I bought was this. The downside - she won't take it off. The upside? Well, I think Mom is off the hook (although we may need a Robin oufit for Julia, because how cute would that be?) And she lets us call her Gwen in public, you know, to protect her secret identity.

She misses school a lot, and so do I. I'm on the Board now, and I'm really looking forward to the new year. Gwen will have a completely new class, and I think she's going to do great. It'll be interesting seeing how Julie does on my work days. I think she's going to be getting into everything she can. Thank goodness for the Ergo. When she's on my back, I can't see what she's getting up to, for one.

Julie is a completely different kitty than her sister. She's quiet and thoughtful, but she has her on ways of letting you know what she wants. We tend to think of Gwen as the drama queen, mostly because she always has been. We called her the Lady Gwendolyn from a very early age. Julie's not dramatic at all. But that doesn't mean she doesn't have her her own ideas. She just tends to be a little more agreeable about getting her way. She's got this toothless grin combined with the bunners wiggle that will charm the bejeebers out of you. She's babbling now, often at the top of her lungs. Her favorite at the moment is MAMAMAMAMAAMAMAMMAA. A couple of times she's stopped at Mama, though, so I'm calling it. She also made a vague gesture today that I'm choosing to interpret asthe milk sign. Because I can.

The two of us were sick this weekend, which totally sucked because we had plans. Parties, people. Plural on the parties, including James' 3rd birthday. James currently has a major crush on Gwen, and I really wanted to watch Jim watching James. Plus, all my peoples was there, with all of the kids, and Jules and I were stuck at home. But Jules kept sneezing great big baby germs everywhere, and I was basically warmed over Death on Legs, so no parties for us. Which meant we were alone for Julie's big moment.

She sat. All by herself! She is a sitting up baby!

(That's Chompers, by the way. The rest of the world call the giraffe Sophie,but we call her Chompers, because that's what Julie does. Chomp her.)

I'm not sure why I'm so excited about this. It isn't as if she's been staying where I put her for weeks now. She rolls all over the place. She's nearly crawling, and will be any day now. She and Gwen are opposites that way. Gwen sat much earlier, and then stayed there. She liked sitting. She'd play with whatever toys she could reach, and if she couldn't reach it, well, then, maybe she didn't need it. Julie would let herslef fall onto to her tummy so that she could navigate her way someplace else. But now she can sit. She is officially no longer a blobby baby. And her mama is officially happy about it.

The other big news about Julie is her food. She's been on solids for almost 2 months now, and I was following the same pattern I did with Gwen. I've also been pureeing food like crazy: peaches, nectarines, plums, mangos, sweetpotatos, aspatagus, peas, and pumpkin are all stashed in my freezer. I introduced foods carefully, 4 days apart, just like the chart said to. I gave her a spoon to play with. And my happy little passive baby was having none of that, thank you!

First she squawked at Jim while I was out. I didn't think too much of it though - it could be hard for me to tell when she was done, too. But then it happened again. And then it happened with me, 3 meals in a row, and then the light clicked on.

This baby would like to feed herself, thankyouverymuch, and she'll have what the rest of us are having ifyoudon'tmind.

I'd run across the term babyled weaning in various blogs, but I hadn't really paid much attention to it. Because Gwen did just fine, you know? I didn't need to learn anything different. Besides, wouldn't she choke? Now I've been googling BLW like crazy (although it isn't weaning in the sense that I'llstop nursing her. It's more baby led feeding.)I offered her some finger food, and the kid went nuts. Ever since then, she's been happy as a clam - unless I try to spoonfeed her. So this morning I made extra oatmeal with raisins,vanilla and cinnamon. I tend to make it thick anyway, and I spread it out on a plate to cool it off some more. Then I broke it into pieces and gave them to Julie, along with cut up peaches, bananas, and blackberries and raspberries. Lunch was steamed carrots, plum, and a cheddar cheese stick. Dinner was a teething biscuit and, a Costco pizza crust, plus a little of Gwen'shot dog bun. I'd been cutting up her food into very small pieces, but everything I'm reading says to give them stuff they can hold onto, so I branched out a little more. It's really all about putting her incontrol of what she eats,and she is loving it.

I will admit that I'm a little nervous. My other book, which the rest of my posse used, is adamant about waiting until certain months to introduce certain foods. This stuff says to just throw it all in there until there's a problem. Really? I am nervous. I'm also doing it, because look at that face. She'll sit there for an hour, working on getting food into her mouth. She gags a little, which is normal. Especially with the cheese, since she was intent on getting as much as she could into her mouth at one time. But she's learning. Gwennie never ever choked. Julie hasn't either, even if she gags here and there.

Julie likes blackberries. Can you tell? Here's another difference - Gwen got fed in her Bumbo for a long time, because she was dinky and it was easier. Julie is dinky, too, but Julie mad the Bumbo move because she ws busy twisting around and dumping stuff over. High chair for you, missy! SHe doesn't seem to mind.

So that's us. For the moment, anyway. Beach tomorrow, hiking with our pals on Saturday, Jim's company picnic, and then it's Labor Day.So the weather will finally get hot.